Heat's not hot

[F14CRAZY]

Howdy. My '92 XL (aka Explorer GT) was intended for non-winter use only, but since I had to get it out for body work and we haven't had much snow, I decided to drive it in the winter (for the first time, but I haven't owned it long enough to have another winter)

When I bought it (last year) the heater core was leaking coolant onto the floor, so I replaced it with one from Advance Auto Parts. No more leaks. After that, the thermostat was sticking and getting the engine a little too warm, so I replaced that with a Stant Superstat 195 degree one. They told me that was the stock temperature, so okay. I also replaced the lower radiator hose at this time. I also replaced the coolant which was kind of required.

The problem is that my heat isn't hot. It's hardly lukewarm. The fan is blowing fine, and still doesn't get warm after driving around for an hour. The temperature gauge shows that the engine gets up to the normal zone within a few miles of driving from a cold start (which seems to be right).

I checked under the hood and everything looked fine with the blower and all. The rubber hose going into the blower motor seems to be okay if it matters.

What do y'all think it is? An inferior heater core? Or is something plugged? I don't think the core needs to be bled of air or anything since it's been circulated for months.

I know that 2nd gens had a valve to turn off water circulation to the core, but that wouldn't apply here.

My '93 Limited recently got the same thermostat and it warms up within a mile, and it gets hot. I don't like being cold :thumbdwn:

 

[MrShorty]

I had to replace my factory heater core a couple of years ago. Replaced with one from Autozone. Can't say for sure that it would be the same material of construction and such, but it doesn't take much for this new core to plug up. I've had to back flush it about once a year to keep it hot. It doesn't take long just to backflush the heater core, you might try it.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Thanks shorty. Well after I posted earlier I just went to the dealer and dumped $81 or so on a new core . Should be in tomorrow. I'll take the idiot core back if I can.

 

[victorb]

Don't take this wrong, but if the fluid in the rad is low, then you will only get warm air.
Your post says you checked a lot of things, but sometimes the simple ones get overlooked.

 

[BuffaloXplorer]

Don't take this wrong, but if the fluid in the rad is low, then you will only get warm air.
Your post says you checked a lot of things, but sometimes the simple ones get overlooked.

I didn't see this anywhere in his post. Did he say it was low and he didn't refill it? Don't see it if he did. He mentioned that he had a leak and fixed it - and i'm SURE he refilled the unit as needed.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Please rest assured. The radiator itself is filled up to the cap how it should be, and the resevoir is also properly filled.